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HCCC 259/2012
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 259 OF 2012
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HKSAR |
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Cheung Yiu‑san |
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| Date: |
4 June 2013 at 10.34 am |
| Present: |
Mr Laurence J Poots, on fiat, for HKSAR |
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Mr Bruce C H Tse, instructed by Haldanes, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the accused |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug(販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a single charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you, on 10 March 2012, outside No 196 Tung Choi Street in Mongkok, unlawfully trafficked in 117.41 grammes of a solid containing 92.44 grammes of cocaine.
The Summary of Facts which you have agreed are quite straightforward and establish that in the very early hours of the morning of the day in question you were intercepted by police in the street and you were found to be carrying a white plastic bag in your hand. The bag was searched and five separate resealable plastic bags were found inside which themselves contained the drugs being the subject matter of the charge.
Under caution, you told the police, “I took the cocaine for somebody from my home to ‘Fa’ first.” You are 27 years of age, a single man, with a poor criminal record. This is not the first time that you’ve been convicted of trafficking in drugs, your last conviction being in 2009 when you received a sentence of 44 months’ imprisonment for a similar offence.
Your counsel is right; the only real mitigation in this case is your plea of guilty and I will afford you the appropriate discount in sentence to reflect this.
The current sentencing guidelines for trafficking in 50 to 200 grammes of cocaine indicate a starting point of 8 to 12 years’ imprisonment. In the present case you were dealing in 92.44 grammes of narcotic. Accordingly, I adopt a starting point of 9½ years’ imprisonment.
I will discount this sentence by one-third to reflect your plea of guilty arriving at a sentence of 6 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.
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